Should football be altered?

It might be time for coaches and administrators at all levels to slap a huge warning label on the game of football. Just in time for the Super Bowl, the New Yorker’s Ben McGrath wrote a lengthy article in the Jan. 31 issue on concussions in the NFL. In the story, McGrath quoted Chris Nowinski as saying that 20 percent of those who play in Sunday’s Super Bowl will eventually contract “incipient dementia.”

Twenty percent! Nowinski is a former Harvard football player and pro wrestler who now advocates for more information on concussions and football. Research is ongoing, but the recent discoveries are alarming, particularly the discovery of chronic traumatic encephalopathy or C.T.E. It was found in the brains of former Steelers Hall of Fame center Mike Webster, his offensive linemate Terry Long and another Steeler linemen, Justin Strzelczyk. Webster was homeless, violent and insane in 2002 when he died of a heart attack. Long killed himself by drinking anti-freeze and Strzelczyk was killed when he plowed into a tanker truck while driving the wrong way on a New York Thruway. Add to the list former Eagles safety Andre Waters, who also committed suicide, and Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry, killed when he was thrown from the back of a flat bed truck while pursuing his girlfriend, who was driving.

C.T.E. is apparently brought on by collisions, or the accumulation of small jolts to the head, something that happens scores of times in practice, particularly for offensive linemen. Research has also connected concussions to the onset of ALS. None of this research is definitive, but there appears to be enough of it to warn those about to go into high school, college and certainly pro football about the risks.

Concussions have long been a part of the game, but recently there seems to be an uptick in head injuries. It’s not surprising. Former 49ers linebacker and current Seattle assistant special teams coach Jeff Ulbrich retired because of a serious concussion. He said players are getting bigger, stronger and faster, but he doubts that skulls are getting thicker, and apparently helmet technology is inadequate in protecting the brain.

Changes have been suggested such as greatly limiting the contact in practice; modifying kickoffs and punt returns and making the three-point stance for offensive linemen illegal. Another change could stipulate that every tackler must attempt to wrap up, which would curtail defenders from launching themselves at ball carriers.

None of these changes seems to appeal to players. Several have said the game is brutal, violent, aggressive and savage, and changes would alter football’s basic nature. Former Giants running back Tiki Barber was quoted in the New Yorker article as saying there’s nothing the league can do to prevent head trauma. He also said he expects to have traces of C.T.E. in his brain as a “necessary side effect of contact activity.”

If football players are going to be modern-day gladiators, at least they should be forewarned that their golden years might include a dark descent into madness, dementia and crippling depression. It’s something fans, players, coaches and parents should know.